First Mission
by Ariennye
Summary: A story about a helpless young ensign on his first mission. Thistles, ghosts and pinball tournaments. What's that red light...?
1. The Ghost Story

Chapter One: The Ghost Story  
  
It was a dark day out.  
  
Then again, what did you expect in space? It was dark, and full of stars, and deadly monsters, and Romulans, and-  
  
"Jordon? Are you listening to me?" asked Ensign Jack Miller.  
  
Ensign Jordon started, then remembered he was talking to Jack about the mission tomorrow. I'm getting spaced out in space. Hopefully, Dr. McCoy wouldn't find out and make him go through a physical. Those were real torture. The worst. Well, not as bad as knowing you were scheduled to beam down tomorrow on an unknown planet as part of Security on your first mission. That was the worst. He shuddered.  
  
"Jordon!"  
  
"Huh?" he blinked. "Sorry, what?"  
  
"I said, what do you think about beaming down tomorrow?"  
  
"Don't want to do it."  
  
"Yeah, that's how I felt on my first away mission. You know what they say, about it getting easier?"  
  
"Yeah. And it probably will."  
  
"Wrong! Even after the first time, until you are part of the command crew, and even then, you live in constant fear. Innumerable times, many ensigns have died, and many painfully."  
  
Jordon gulped nervously. "Several red shirted ensigns have died, even lieutenants, and so have red dressed yeomans, like the Yeoman Thompson. She didn't have a very important job."  
  
Jordon stared in horror. Jack continued. "And then there was Ensign Wyatt, he died while manning the transporter."  
  
Jordon was wide-eyed now, shivering despite of himself. "Oh, and that incident on Alfa 4? With the transporter malfunction? Well, red shirted people were badly wounded-"  
  
"Hello, Ensign Miller, Ensign Jordon." Both jumped, turned, and stared into the face of Lieutenant Commander Scott. "Are ye scarin' the poor lad, Ensign?"  
  
"Oh no sir! My ghost stories, true as they are, never scare people!"  
  
"Tell that to Lieutenant Michaels in Biology."  
  
Jack looked embarrassed. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to get on shift! Bye!" he said, and hurried away. Mr. Scott chuckled, and looked back down at Jordon, still scared at being faced by certain doom, and stuck in the presence of a commanding officer.  
  
"Don't ye worry, laddie. Many people have survived from beaming down and transporters. And ignore Ensign Miller. He just likes to tell scary stories."  
  
"I know, sir. The problem is he tells them so well."  
  
"Aye." With that Mr. Scott clapped him on the back, then walked to the replicator. Jordon sighed. He was still nervous.  
  
An hour later he walked into security, where Jack was waiting.  
  
"Hello! You are..." he consulted her chronometer, "...five minutes late."  
  
"I was talking to Lt. Commander Scott. I had a reason."  
  
"Wellll...we'll over look this minor problem." said Ensign Kalinda Selis, as though she would really report it. "Join us in five hours of boredom during this rare, but deadly, shift."  
  
Jordon pulled up a chair. "Okay. It's not like I have a choice. What are we doing now?"  
  
"I have a story to tell!" Jack said.  
  
"Uh-oh. Let me guess. A ghost story?"  
  
"Yeah! This one is about a haunted planet. I can't remember the name of it, but it was a lonely planet in the middle of the alpha sector, where we are now."  
  
"Conveniently."  
  
"Kalinda, this is a true story! My friend said so, and he visited the planet. Now don't interrupt. Anyway, there were five in the away team. They were a general science officer, a biologist, a doctor, and two security ensigns, one of which was my friend.  
  
"They were wandering around, taking readings, when there was a scream from the other ensign. He was holding a prickly plant, much like the thistle of Earth. He went pale, spun around, and fell to the ground, twitching. The doctor rushed over, but it was too late. He was dead." He paused there, for effect. "Then, there was this rushing sound, and there were several red humanoid glows coming toward the dead ensign. They covered the body, there was a flash of light, and the body, plus the lights, were gone.  
  
"The captain ordered immediate beam-up, after this happened to the ensign biologist."  
  
"Wow." Kalinda said. "Is that really a true story?"  
  
"Yeah, is it." Jordon agreed nervously. That was a very scary story, but he wasn't about to tell Jack that. She might keep scaring him.  
  
"So, now what?  
  
"Well, I received a letter from my mom, and there was a box..." Kalinda began.  
  
"You got a box? Cool! I always wanted one."  
  
"I wasn't done yet! Anyway, in this box I received a..." Dramatic pause. "...mini pinball game!"  
  
Jordon and Jack stared. "A what?"  
  
"A pinball game. See these tiny metallic spheres?" They nodded. "Well, you move the game like so..." She moves the game around, "...and try to get the spheres into these shallow depressions. Then total the score!"  
  
They stared at Kalinda. After a minute Jack said, "That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard of."  
  
"Well,this was from the nineteenth century, so it is old. I bet if you were stuck in some cave with nothing to do for several hours you wouldn't say this was so boring!"  
  
"Yeah, right. That'll never happen!"  
  
Kalinda's reply was cut off by the speaker. "Red Alert! Red Alert! All hands to battlestations!"  
  
"This might not be so boring. Guess we don't need the pinball game after all." Jack said gleefully.  
  
"Just you wait."  
  
At that time the Security Chief Giotto walked in, with several other lieutenants. He looked upset. The three helpless ensigns gulped and backed up. "Well, there is a problem on the planet Meridi X. You three newcomers are in the landing party. Don't disappoint me, or else. Now get moving!"  
  
"Yessir!" They shouted, then dashed for the door, away from the impressive lieutenants, and the scowl of their commanding officer.  
  
"I thought I heard laughter back there." Kalinda said, after they were in the relative safety of the corridor to the transporter room.  
  
"I didn't hear anything." Jordon informed her. They waited for Jack to talk, but he didn't. They looked over at him. He was white as a sheet.  
  
"Uh, Jack, what's the matter?" Kalinda grinned wickedly. "Did the nasty story ghosts come to life?"  
  
"Maybe. Remember that story?" They nodded. "Well, I remembered the name of the planet. Meridi X."  
  
Jordon stared, and felt himself go cold. Oh, no! he thought. Kalinda merely snorted.  
  
"I bet you just made this up since Giotto mentioned the name."  
  
"I swear I didn't!"  
  
By this time they were at the transporter room, and the argument was stopped when Jordon froze at the entrance of the room, and felt them bang into him. Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock looked over at them, and Jordon gulped. Great. We're beaming down with the captain and Mr. Spock. Just who I wanted to make a fool of myself in front of. Jack poked him, and got onto the transporter pads, on the left, with Jack and Kalinda in the back, and Mr. Spock with the captain up front.  
  
Captain Kirk started to speak. "Listen up. We have detected a massive energy surge here. Our job is to beam down, and discover the source of this energy. There was a team here before-" Jack elbowed Kalinda in the ribs, "- and they don't remember seeing a source. There was some energy down here, but that was from a Romulan ship in the area. The red beings are said to come from there." It was Kalinda's turn to elbow Jack.  
  
Kirk looked to the last figure in the room. "Ready, Mr. Scott."  
  
The usual transporter effect took place, and they found themselves on Meridi X, face to face with a red humanoid glow. 


	2. I don't feel dead

Chapter Two: I don't feel dead...  
  
Jordon stared at the red being. The ghosts! He felt like running off into the dense plants, but he was a security guard, and he was suppose to guard and secure. He put a hand on his phaser, noticing out of the corner of his eyes that Kalinda and Jack were doing to the same, then waited for the being, or the captain, to speak.  
  
"Who are you?" Captain Kirk asked. The beings said nothing. After several minutes, the captain began to get nervous. He tried again.  
  
"What do you want?" Still a silence  
  
"Are you the guardian of this place?"  
  
"No." The voice sounded like a normal humans voice, with a hint of English in it, as though it had come from Earth. "The Guardian is up there." It pointed to the sky.  
  
Captain Kirk looked up at the sky. "I am Captain-"  
  
"I know who you are." boomed voice so loud that it could only belong to the Guardian. Jordon clapped his hands to his ears. It was like the sound of a great drum being beaten. He saw the others also covering their ears, especially Mr. Spock. If he thought this was loud, what was it like to Mr. Spock's sensitive Vulcan hearing?  
  
"Who are you?" the captain asked again.  
  
"Captain, I believe you have already asked that question, and the being made it clear that it will not, or cannot, answer the question. Therefor, it would be more productive to try asking a new question."  
  
"Thank you, Mr. Spock." the captain said wearily. "Next time you talk could you please use a quieter voice?"  
  
"Yes." It was still loud, but within the normal human speaking range.  
  
"Thank you. We detected a huge energy surge, and have come here to investigate. Do you know what it is?"  
  
"No. Now leave this place."  
  
"Please let us..."  
  
"NO. This is my planet, I am the Guardian. I cam here several years ago, and have claimed this place for my followers. No one else may enter."  
  
"Just give us fifteen minutes. That should be enough time,"  
  
The Guardian was silent for a moment. "Very well. Fifteen Standard minutes, no more."  
  
"Thank you, Guardian." He turned to the others. "Get out your tricorders. We need to get all the information possible. Ensign Jordon, you will go to the north. Ensign Selis, to the south. Ensign Miller, to the east. I'll take the west, and Spock can gather the samples. After you have been gone ten minutes, turn around and come back to the beam-down point."  
  
Jordon, Kalinda and Jack fanned out, going their separate ways, looking for the source of the energy.  
  
This area is pretty boring, Jordon thought. There was nothing but barren ground, with the occasional rocks and deadwood. He kept going, getting no unusual readings. He saw a rocky hill, and started to climb, trying to get a good view of the area. He was about halfway up when he thought he saw something move. It wasn't red, which meant it wasn't the being from before. He turned around, but there was nothing there. He saw something at the edge of his vision two more times as he climbed up the hill, but each time there was nothing.  
  
Finally, he reached the top of the hill. It was a good view, showing him all the nice grassy areas his friends and the captain got to cover, where at least they had shade from the sun beating down upon the planet. But seeing nothing, and noticing that ten minutes were up, he headed back down to go to the beam-dowm point. Jack and Kalinda were already there, arguing over the reality red figure.  
  
"I told you they were real."  
  
"This could occur naturally, you know."  
  
"Yeah, but two different landing parties came before the last one, and they never saw anything like this. And there are no space anomalies around here. I checked to make sure."  
  
"It probably a Romulan ship again."  
  
"Doubt it. We would have seen it."  
  
"Romulan ships can cloak."  
  
Jack thought about this. "Well, they need to decloak to fire, right? The same has to go for projecting voices and red beings."  
  
"So they did it on the planet."  
  
"We would detect them."  
  
"Well, maybe they..." Kalinda trailed off, trying to think of a comeback.  
  
She might have had one too, but just then a prickly plant in front of her jumped forward onto her hand with lightning speed.  
  
"What the...?" she began, but then she gave a shriek, and fell twitching onto the ground. Then she lay still.  
  
"Just like my friend said!" Jack exclaimed, and ran over to check for a pulse. Then he shook his head. There was none. There was a rush of air, and the prickly plant jumped onto him.  
  
"Ahhhh!" he shrieked. Jordon didn't see anything else. The blur on Jack's hand that was the prickly plant jumped to him, and he screamed at the pain burning through his hand and up his arm, toward his brain, and his vision went red. Then he twitched, and lay there. He was blind, but could still hear, and right now he heard hurried footsteps coming toward them. At least they had heard the shouts.  
  
Captain Kirk: What happened, Mr. Spock?  
  
Mr. Spock: I am unsure, Captain. But they are dead.  
  
Are we? I don't feel dead.  
  
Captain Kirk: How did they die?  
  
Mr. Spock: I am unsure. Dr. McCoy will need to look into that.  
  
Captain Kirk: There appear to be puncture wounds on each of their hands. Does that mean anything?  
  
It means we were injected with something from that plant...  
  
Mr. Spock: Probably that they were attacked by the same creature, or species of creature. However, I see nothing to suggest there was ever an animal here recently. No tracks, no broken plants, except that of where they fell, nothing.  
  
Captain Kirk: Could it fly?  
  
Mr. Spock: That is a possibility. There appears to be marks here, on the branches near Ensign Selis' body that suggest something jumped upon Ensign Selis. I estimate a 99.64753 chance that she was attacked first, then the thing jumped the other two.  
  
Oh, it can jump, all right...  
  
Captain Kirk: What about that prickly thing?  
  
Mr. Spock: Interesting. It appears to be like the...  
  
Captain Kirk: Watch out!  
  
Mr. Spock: Fascinating. It appears to be able to move on it's own. I shall have to put this with the other samples.  
  
Of course. Just the ensigns die, just like in the unwritten law.  
  
Guardian: It is time. Leave now.  
  
Captain Kirk: What happened?  
  
(Pause)  
  
Captain Kirk: Guardian? Answer me!  
  
(Another silence, then a sigh)  
  
Captain Kirk: Two to beam up.  
  
Am I dead? He saw a light in front of him, as though at the end of a tunnel, and felt himself being pulled toward it. He remembered what people on Earth had said about staying away from the light, and he fought with all his strength. But he didn't need their warnings.  
  
Because the light was red. 


	3. What's with all the red?

Disclaimer: Star Trek is not mine. Deal with it.  
  
Replys to reviews:  
  
i_am_bug: Thank you, and I will write more.  
  
Peter Preston: Glad you liked it.  
  
Sorry about how long this took, but with back to school, and my other stories...well, you get the idea.  
  
Chapter Three: What's with all the red?  
  
Wow. There was red everywhere. He tried to move his head. No result. He tried to move his eyes. Same things. He tried to move at all, but he couldn't. It was like he was paralyzed. And the red was everywhere, the same shade as his uniform shirt. Then something touched him. A minute later, he realized someone was shaking him.  
  
"Jordon, wake up!" a voice that sounded like Kalinda's said.  
  
Jordon managed to open his eyes to see two faces and a red glow looking down at him.  
  
"Wha...what happened? How did we get here?" he asked groggily, slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position. He remembered voices, but everything else was a blur.  
  
"I'm not sure." Jack said. "We were all standing in the clearing, then the plant attacked us. The captain and Mr. Spock were talking, then there was an order to beam up. But I guess we didn't."  
  
Jordon was starting to remember everything now. The plant had killed them...or so he thought. "I thought Mr. Spock said we were dead."  
  
"He did. But we have been assured by these red beings we are not." It was then that Jordon noticed they were in a cave surrounded by red beings. They were floating around the ceiling and standing in a circle around. Now that Jordon looked around, everything here was red too.  
  
"What's with all the red?" he asked.  
  
"I'm not sure. We weren't getting any answers until you woke up. They wanted to save by by only telling us once."  
  
"Ah." Jordon would have said more, like let's get out of here because I hate ghosts, but just then a red (big surprise) light appeared in the center of the room.  
  
"Hi!" Jack said. "How are you?"  
  
"Fine. Now, I am here to answer you're questions for...ten minutes."  
  
"What is this place."  
  
"This is where I take all the innocent red-shirts who have died over the years. They go to one of my other planers to live another life, then come here as red lights to congregate and complain about their ships. There are many here from the Enterprise."  
  
"Wow. So, why are we here, and not on another of your planets?"  
  
"Because you aren't dead."  
  
"Mr. Spock said we were."  
  
"One of my guardian servants, the thistle plant, has a poison that simulates death. You were caught when he decided to rebel. He has been punished by death."  
  
"But...we can't stay here! Because you live here, no more ships will come!" Kalinda said.  
  
"I realize that. But the spirits and I have decided that your captain is too stupid to heed my warning, and will come back looking for the power source. He won't find the source, but he will find you."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"Now, I must be going to collect another red-shirt. Goodbye!" And with that the guardian's light wavered and vanished, as did the other glowing lights, except one.  
  
"I am here to guide you." the red-shirt informed him. "I was once a security guard named Kaplan on your ship, but lightning hit me on the planet Gamma Trianguli VI. I was struck by lightning and burnt to a crisp, but I was really upset when he left my friend Hendorf's body there."  
  
"I know! He did that with out bodies! If he had just brought us up we could be alive and safe on the ship! The Enterprise might not even come back if something more pressing comes up!" Kalinda complained.  
  
"Yeah. I bet his parents would have wanted his body! But he didn't even get my ashes or anything! And the situation wasn't very dangerous! He could have come to get us later, instead of leaving us for the wolves, or whatever was on the planet that passes for a wolf!" Kaplan complained. "And because I was ashes, I couldn't even get another life!" Jordon could see the entrance ahead.  
  
"I know." Jack looked around. "Did you hear anything?"  
  
"No." Kalinda said. "Why?"  
  
"I thought I heard a rumbling sound."  
  
Suddenly, as though Jack's words had called it forth, there was a loud rumbling. The rock groaned, and fell over the entrance, and behind them. It would have fallen on them, but Kaplan created a force field that surrounded them and made the rocks roll to the side. After five minutes, they sound stopped, and rocks stayed where they were.  
  
"Just great! Kaplan, would you mind giving us some light please?"  
  
"Sure, Jordon." A red light (another big surprise) appeared in the a foot above their heads.  
  
"Well, let's try to move the rocks." Kalinda suggested. They tried, but they wouldn't budge. Jordon thought even Mr. Spock would have a hard time moving them.  
  
"Unfortunately, I cannot move objects." Kaplan said. "I shall go find the Guardian and ask him to assist us. It may be a while, because I don't know where he is."  
  
"Thanks!" Kalinda called after Kaplan as he floated through the ceiling.  
  
"So what do we do now?"  
  
"I have no idea." Jack said. "I guess all we can do is wait."  
  
An hour later, they were beginning to get bored.  
  
"I'm bored."  
  
"I am too, Jordon." Jack said. "By the way, why do they call you Ensign Jordon instead of whatever your last name is?"  
  
"Because my last name is Wynterrisquentiortin."  
  
"Oh." That sat in silence for another minute.  
  
"This boring." Jack complained.  
  
"I know. We need something to do." Kalinda said.  
  
"We could try the pile again."  
  
"Why?" Jordon asked. "We tried it once, and nothing happened."  
  
"We could try a new place."  
  
"Hey, I'll help. Let's try the loose stuff on the top." Kalinda said, and she walked over with Jack to start straining against the rocks and loose rubble. They got a tiny hole, but that was it. Kalinda tried to move a rock under the hole. She strained, but it didn't budge. Then, suddenly, she ripped it free with such strength that she fell to the ground.  
  
"Ow! I think I landed on a rock!" She looked behind her. "No, I didn't. It was just my pinball game." Jack tried the other rocks.  
  
"It's no use." he complained. "We need the Guardian's help." There was no reply. "Guys?" But they were absorbed in the pinball game.  
  
"Wow! My turn!" Jordon said. They played in silence for half an hour. Finally, Jack relented.  
  
"Let me have a turn."  
  
"But I thought this was the stupid, boring game." Kalinda said.  
  
"Well, it was."  
  
"I thought it was the game you wouldn't even play in a cave-in."  
  
"Well, yeah. But that was before I was in an actual cave-in."  
  
"What about the one when you were sixteen?"  
  
"That's different!"  
  
"How?"  
  
Jack thought about that. "Well, it's not."  
  
"And...?"  
  
"And..." he sighed. "...I was wrong."  
  
"Okay, you can play."  
  
"Hey, let's have a pinball tournament!" Jordon said.  
  
"Well, okay. There's nothing better to do." Picking up a sharp rock that had fallen loose when she had pulled the rock down, Kalinda wrote their names on the wall.  
  
They played for half an hour, and at the end of that time Jack was ahead with 1400 points, then came Jordon with 1000, then Kalinda with 990. Just as they were about to stop again after a break, a cloud of rubble descended on them. They looked up, expecting to see the Guardian, but instead they saw......the prickly plant.  
  
It zoomed down toward them...  
  
A/N: Cliff hanger! I like to think the innocent red-shirts that have died get to go to this great place where all is red. It kind of makes up for them died in terrible ways while non-red shirts live. And I know, the pinball game was weird, but I was bored, and needed to get this posted. 


	4. Return to the Enterprise

Disclaimer: 1/8 of a penny to anyone who can guess the owner of Star Trek. Hint: It isn't me.  
  
PenguinQueen: No, I haven't read that book. It sounds...different. Anyway, many thanks for all the reviews I have received from you. This is the final chapter. (much applause)  
  
Chapter Four: Return to the Enterprise  
  
Jordon watched in horror as the prickly plant, that the Guardian said had been punished by death, zoomed down toward them, obviously about to get them again. They would probably be in the dead-like state when the Enterprise came back. Of course. They were red-shirts, weren't they?  
Hey, wait a minute! Isn't this the place where red shirts are lucky?  
Just then the Guardian's red light appeared in front of the plant, struck it with red lightning. The plant gave a howl (Is that possible? Jordon thought.) and disintegrated.  
"Thanks. I though we were about to die again. After all, the red shirts usually die." Jack said.  
"Not on my planet." the Guardian said, opening the entrance again with some kind of rock-melting red beam.(A/N: Why a red beam? Because this is the planet of the red shirts.) "Now, come with me. You must be in the same place as you were when you supposedly died, to make it easier for your captain."  
"He needs all the help he can get." Jordon informed him, and they followed the Guardian to where they had originally beamed down. "Not that I would actually say that to him, of course."  
"When does the ship get here?" Kalinda asked when they got there.  
"In five standard minutes." the Guardian replied. "I hope I do not have to meet you again."  
"Why?" Jack asked.  
"Because that would mean that we died in a mission." Kalinda reminded him.  
"Oh yeah. I knew that."  
"Sure."  
"I detect your ship in warp speed. This is where I leave you, because soon he will detect me." With that the red light that was the Guardian vanished. Jordon looked around. They were back at where they had beamed down.  
Five minutes later, Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock appeared in front of him. The captain looked at them, and they saluted. He returned the salute.  
"Where have you been?" he demanded. "We thought you were dead."  
Jordon opened his mouth. Then shut it again. How could you explain that you had had your death simulated by a rogue plant, had seen the spirits of all the dead red shirts, had been stuck in a cave having a pinball tournament with your friends, and meeting an all-powerful Guardian who protected the spirits of red shirts? Somehow, that seemed hard to explain. But he didn't want to lie.  
"Well, we aren't sure, sir." he said. That, at least, was the truth. "A plant jumped onto us-"  
"Jumped, Ensign...?"  
"Jordon, sir. Well, I think there may have been a sort of heat sensor apparatus in the plant, but when we awoke, it was gone. And after the plant jumped us, we were sort of paralyzed, but we could hear."  
"Oh, I've been there.*"  
Jordon gave him a curious look, but continued. "We heard the order to beam up, but we passed out then and were here." That was the truth, with parts omitted from the story.  
"Well, Ensign, we have orders to look around here and find the power source, then leave for Alpha Omega II. But you will beam up for a complete physical."  
Jordon groaned in spite of himself. The captain gave him a sympathetic smile. "I know. Physicals are the worst." He took his communicator out.  
"Scotty, three to beam up. Spock and I will be staying down here. Have Dr. McCoy aware that they are to report for a physical."  
"Aye-aye, sir." he said, and Jordon felt himself being beamed up. + + +  
A day later, after the dreaded physical, Jordon, Jack and Kalinda were sitting at their favorite table near the viewport, eating their lunches in the Mess Hall.  
"Well, let's not go back there."  
"Yeah. That was enough excitement."  
"Where are we going next?"  
"Oh, Alpha Omega II. There's some plague or something that causes hallucinations."  
"That's weird."  
"No weirder than what we just went through."  
"That wasn't the oddest thing I've ever done." Jack said.  
"You've done something weirder?" Kalinda asked.  
"Well, yeah, but that another story entirely."  
"For when?" Jordon asked.  
"Next time were bored out of our minds on a five hour watch."  
"Oh. That makes sense."  
  
A/N: And on that happy note I end this great story. Please Read and Review! * If you read the TOS episode book adaptions by James Blish, a similar thing happened to Kirk at the end of "Amok Time" when he was 'dead'. 


End file.
